Milford Mill, MD Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Motorcycle accidents happen with alarming frequency across the United States. A motorcycle’s small size can make it tough for ordinary motorists to spot, especially if they are being careless on the road. Worse still, motorcyclists often get injured significantly worse than people driving ordinary vehicles when accidents happen, and the cost of paying for medical treatment to manage injuries can quickly become too much to bear.

If you were hurt in a crash while riding your motorcycle and need assistance, turn to us. Our lawyers know how to handle motorcycle accident cases with the finesse, professionalism, and determination that they demand so that you can have the best shot possible at getting any financial damages you are owed following your accident.

To get a totally obligation-free review of your claim, call the motorcycle accident lawyers from Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291.

Causes of Motorcycle Accidents in Milford Mill, MD

Motorcycle accidents happen for many varied reasons. Many unfairly view motorcycle crashes as being primarily the fault of the motorcycle rider. However, in reality, very few motorcycle incidents happen because the rider is doing something irresponsible. The vast majority of motorcycle crashes and collisions are the fault of another party’s careless mistake.

Driver Negligence

A large portion of motorcycle accidents happen because another driver was negligent – or careless. In law, negligence is when someone does something unreasonable that hurts another person. A lot of the ways that drivers end up being negligent involve violating traffic laws. For example, drunk driving, ignoring traffic signals, and speeding are all negligent acts because they violate laws.

Drives can also be negligent in ways that do not arise to the level of violating the law. Many aggressive driving habits fall into this category. For example, even though there are laws about driving too close to people, a driver can be too close to a motorcyclist up to a certain point without violating the law.

“Single-Vehicle” Accidents

Many motorcycle crashes may superficially appear as if they happen “out of nowhere.” These so-called “single-vehicle” accidents may look like the rider lost control of their vehicle, but it is often the case that other factors are at play. The conduct of other drivers can often result in a motorcycle crash that looks to be a freak accident, and problems with a bike can cause a motorcyclist who is doing everything right to lose control and get in a crash.

Motorcycle Defects

When a crash is the result of a problem with a motorcycle, that motorcycle is said to be “defective.” Defective products fall into two main camps: products with design defects and products with manufacturing defects.

A design defect is something deeply ingrained in a product’s build. Even a motorcycle built exactly to factory specifications will be unsafe if it has a design defect. Manufacturing defects, on the other hand, arise out of mistakes made at some point during the manufacturing process. For example, incorrectly wiring the handbrakes in a motorcycle so that it does not stop would be considered a manufacturing defect.

Road Issues

Finally, some motorcycle accidents are the result of poor road conditions. For example, potholes can be a serious problem for ordinary cars, but for motorcycles, the consequences can be much worse if a smaller bike impacts one.

Damages in Milford Mill, MD Motorcycle Accident Cases

Your goal when you file a motorcycle accident lawsuit is to prove that the defendant is liable for your injuries and collect damages to offset your hardships. The idea behind courts awarding damages is to try and rewind the plaintiff’s circumstances to what they were before the accident took place. Of course, the injuries the plaintiff has may make this impossible in the literal sense, so financial compensation is frequently used as a substitute.

First, you can get damages for economic loss due to medical bills, property damage, and lost wages. These damages can be supported by evidence like hospital records, insurance claims, repair shop receipts, and other tangible things.

Second, you can request damages for items that have a less immediately obvious value. For example, you can get damages for “pain and suffering” brought about by the injuries you sustained in your motorcycle crash. There is no bill, receipt, or invoice for “pain” or “suffering,” so you will have to come up with a value for those things with the help of our motorcycle accident lawyers and convince the court accordingly.

Finally, in some cases, you may be able to get what are called “punitive damages” if the defendant has done something especially bad. You will need to prove more than that the defendant was merely negligent, so you should talk to our attorneys about seeking these damages early on in the legal process.

Calculating Damages in Milford Mill, MD Motorcycle Accident Cases

Calculating the damages you need to cover medical bills, damage to your bike, and other similar things is, relatively speaking, straightforward, as there is tangible proof of value present. For “non-economic” and punitive damages, you will have to find a different way to come up with the amount you are asking for. There is no mandated way to carry out that process, but two methods commonly used by attorneys include the multiplier method and the “per diem” method.

The multiplier method takes your economic damages and multiplies them by a given Factor. So, if you have medical bills, property damage, and lost wages totaling $1 million, and our lawyers come to the conclusion that multiplying it by a factor of 3 makes sense, you would ask for $3 million in non-economic damages for total damages of $4 million.

The “per diem” method, by contrast, takes into account each day you had to deal with your injuries. It comes up with a “daily pain amount” and adds that up for each day you are expected to deal with the effects of your motorcycle accident.

Different methods of calculating damages make sense for different situations, so you should discuss with our attorneys which method makes sense for you.

Chat with Our Milford Mill, MD Motorcycle Accident Lawyers About Your Claim Today

Do not hesitate to contact Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s offices at (410) 694-7291 to get a free case review from our motorcycle accident lawyers.